Every time Michele French gets to watch her son, Austin, play lacrosse, she thinks about how proud his father would have been to see the way he controls the field.

Austin French is ambidextrous, having the ability to pass and shoot a lacrosse ball equally as well on either side of his body. His athletic gift makes him the ideal player to “quarterback” second-ranked University of Denver from behind the offensive cage.

Looking right or left, the sophomore from Danville, Calif., delivers with optimum effectiveness.

Off the field, he serves in a leading role with his family. He’s a brother and now father-figure to Cole French, a future DU goalie. The boys’ father, Todd French, passed away Jan. 30, 2015, after a four-year battle with lung cancer. Todd, a non-smoker, was a prominent football and lacrosse coach to his sons — before high school and during Austin’s first three years at San Ramon Valley High — as well as the entire community.

Todd was cremated in his coaching gear and his ashes were spread on San Ramon’s stadium field, where his memorial service was held in front of thousands of mourners.

“He was a very influential character in our entire community in Danville,” Austin said of his father, who was 48. “So when he passed, the whole entire sports community — including our rival high schools — rallied around him. It was a really big deal, because he touched so many lives through coaching. He passed right before my senior season of lacrosse and the big thing for my team was to win our North Coast Section for my dad. My team really rallied around that, the reason why we practiced so hard and why we ended up winning it. It was really emotional.”

DU recruited Austin French when he was a junior at San Ramon, when his dad coached from the sideline in a wheelchair. He was too ill to stand.

“Watching him battle every single day helps me appreciate life a little bit more,” Austin said of his father. “It makes me appreciate the struggles I go through, because my struggles are nothing compared to that. I think I became a more mature man because I had to step up to be the man of the house now. I have to look after Cole.”

Cole lives with his mother and Todd’s widow, Michele French, in Danville. They’ve attended some of Austin’s games at DU, the closest Division I program to California. Austin partly chose the Pioneers because of the proximity to home, and coach Bill Tierney promised to watch over him and his brother.

“Obviously, every dad is important in a son’s life, but Austin’s dad was his football coach and lacrosse coach, as well. He served a double role,” Tierney said. “I talked to his dad the last week he was alive and all he wanted me to do was to be there for Austin as best I could. We promised him we would.”

Because Cole is an unsigned recruit, scheduled to join DU and the lacrosse team in 2018-19, Tierney is not allowed to talk about him.

Austin is excelling at Denver, carrying a 4.0 grade-point average and serving as the Pioneers’ third-leading goal scorer (17) and point producer (30).

Michele French believes Austin is in great hands with Tierney, but she still is concerned about the way her son is handling the tragedy.

“He’s able to move on, and obviously doing fantastic at Denver,” Michele said of Austin. “But there’s definitely some bitterness. He will not go to church and is still questioning why someone like Todd would be taken. He puts on a front and plows through. But he’s definitely bitter about it.”

Said Tierney: “Austin quickly assumed the role of his dad for his younger brother. I thought that was really the thing that matured him very quickly. He didn’t have time to be the grieving son of a dad who was really popular. I think the hard part for him was coming here and leaving his brother at home without dad being there. But he made his dad a promise that he would do great in school and great in lacrosse, and live up to the name. He’s done that.”

On Sunday, the French family will celebrate what would have been Todd’s 50th birthday.

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